How Do Companies Know if You Have a College Degree
Given that college costs are on the rise and the average student loan debt in 2020 was about $37,500, many people are starting to question the wisdom of pursuing a available's degree.
Does it make sense to spend all that time and money getting your degree when yous could be working, earning, and gaining experience? And do employers value existent-world experience and on-the-chore training enough to overlook the lack of a degree on a resume?
Value of a College Degree
For the 2020-2021 academic year, the approximate price for one year at an in-state public college was $26,280 (including tuition, room, board, and other fees), for a total cost of $105,120 for four years. Four years at a private institution is approximately $219,520.
Clearly, pursuing a traditional 4-yr degree tin add upwardly. Withal, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that there are benefits to pursuing a degree.
For case, people with a bachelor's degree who were at least 25 years old in 2019 had a total unemployment rate of 2.2%, while those with only a high school diploma had a rate of 3.7%. The data shows that people with a bachelor'southward degree had median weekly earnings of $1,248, versus $746 for a loftier school diploma.
Additionally, employers are willing to pay a starting bacon that's between 11% and thirty% higher for people with a bachelor's degree.
Exercise Employers Require College Degrees?
According to a 2017 Harvard Concern School study, between 2007 and 2010, job postings listing a bachelor's caste requirement as a condition of employment rose by 10%.
The same report also constitute that in ix out of ten job postings that requested a bachelor'south degree, the postings did not contain different duties or added responsibilities than postings with the same title that didn't crave a bachelor'south degree.
Why require a degree when the job's duties and responsibilities are the same no matter how much education an employee has?
The report found that employers believe that applicants with a college degree are more than "job-ready" than those without a degree. Specifically, employers experience that candidates with degrees possess more than hard and soft skills than non-degreed candidates. While the range of "difficult" skills varied by field, the desired soft skills were generally the aforementioned across the board (including exact communication skills and the ability to mentor other staff).
However, at the same time, employers also acknowledge that possessing a college caste does not guarantee that a candidate will exist whatsoever improve at the job than someone without a degree. For case, employers feel that productivity levels are no different between degreed and non-degreed employees and that retention rates remain the same between workers with and without degrees.
Even though employers note that having a degree doesn't guarantee a candidate will be a "ameliorate" employee, some companies withal require that applicants have their degree. This is in spite of the fact that 63% of employers say that the degree requirements go far harder to fill positions, which may exist considering nearly two-thirds of the U.S. workforce does not accept a bachelor's degree.
Shifting Norms
For some organizations, proving you can do the work is enough to get y'all the task without a caste. Recently many leading companies have changed their mindset virtually requiring degrees, including Google, Netflix, Tesla, IBM, Penguin Random House, Banking company of America, Hilton, and Apple. In fact, virtually half of Apple's U.S. workforce includes people without 4-year degrees.
In that location are many high-paying jobs and fast-growing careers that don't require a caste, such equally computer programming, product management, and other tech-related positions.
There are also many non-tech-related jobs that don't require a caste, including virtual administration, pharmacy technicians, online ad and social media roles, customer service representatives, payroll clerks, and more than.
Harvard Business School's study found that 37% of employers rank experience as the almost important qualification in an applicant, not educational attainment. When a job is difficult to make full, employers are more than probable to overlook the lack of a degree when candidates have sufficient experience in identify of the "right" education. And in large organizations (those with more than than ten,000 employees), experience is more important than a degree 44% of the time.
— Potential Is Important
It's not just experience that employers say they value. A 2019 study establish that 45% of recruiters and hiring managers say that a candidate's potential is the most of import attribute of their application.
Only potential isn't just the likelihood that a candidate will perform their job duties fairly (or fifty-fifty go above and beyond). Employers ascertain potential as someone'south power to grow into and across the chore. They want people who will solve bug for the company and will, in the long run, bring value to their function.
— Next Steps for Jobs That List a Caste Requirement
Task descriptions often country that applicants should have a degree, which can be frustrating for job seekers who know they could be successful in the role even though they lack this credential.
Fortunately, you can nevertheless utilise to jobs that say they require a "bachelor's degree" or "college degree" when y'all don't have one. If you lot're confident you tin can do the chore based solely on your feel and skills, get ahead and use.
Here's how to handle this in your application materials. On your resume, in the Education section, add a line such as:
- "10+ years of experience in lieu of a available's degree," so the keywords "available'south degree" announced on your document
- "2 years of coursework completed toward Bachelor of Science in Accounting" if the job posting lists a specific degree requirement
In your cover letter, focusing on the positive and explaining how you lot meet many of the other requirements tin can help you lot get your human foot in the door—particularly if you accept relevant experience.
— What to Do When You Don't Match All the Requirements
Studies have constitute that many job seekers, especially women, hold themselves back from applying if they don't friction match the vast bulk of the chore requirements. According to LinkedIn, while both genders browse jobs similarly, they apply for roles differently. Women often experience they need to encounter 100% of the criteria for a task, while men usually apply if they meet about 60%.
As a result, women are 14% less likely than men to apply for a task later viewing it and, on the whole, apply to xx% fewer jobs than men. But despite this, women are 16% more likely than men to go hired later applying for a task!
Rather than holding out for those 100% matches, if your qualifications lucifer 80-90% of what'due south listed in the job clarification, consider applying. Remember, a job description is simply a wishlist from an employer, and they'll most likely not wind up hiring someone with all (or even nigh) of the qualifications.
How to Get Education and Feel
Fortunately, there are alternatives to a traditional degree program that can help advance your education and work experience.
— Community College
Some employers have ii-year degrees from a community college if an applicant can demonstrate they accept some of the desired feel.
You lot may still need to complete internships to gain additional experience, only you won't have to spend well-nigh as much time (or money) on your education in a two-year programme. And when you complete community college, y'all'll have an associate's degree. Several states have programs in place to make community colleges more affordable.
— Trade Schoolhouse
Merchandise schools train students for a specific career. Using a combination of classroom and hands-on training, you lot'll gain experience and technical skills in a specific occupation. Similar community college, you can complete the plan in approximately ii years. Y'all won't have a degree, merely you will have a diploma or certificate that proves you successfully completed the plan.
— Apprenticeships
An apprenticeship is like to merchandise school, only with less school and more on-the-task learning (and earning). Employers agree to railroad train and pay people willing to learn a job or trade.
Most apprenticeships require a loftier school diploma to enter. Not every career field offers an apprenticeship, but in certain trades, an apprenticeship can make full in the gap betwixt non having a degree and not having the required experience. At the finish of the apprenticeship, you'll have a nationally-recognized credential that can aid you lot find employment.
— Volunteering
Beyond giving back to your customs or a favorite cause, volunteering is a great fashion for you to gain experience, hone your skills, and evidence you've got what it takes to become the job washed.
For case, if you volunteered to run social media campaigns for a pet shelter and can demonstrate that your social media posts led to an increase in appointment with your audience, y'all're showing a potential employer that you've got social media and marketing savvy.
— Virtual Learning and Upskilling
Even before the pandemic increased the popularity of online learning, many people turned to certifications and degrees through a virtual learning experience. Online colleges offering the opportunity to earn a bachelor's caste, often on a flexible schedule or with lower tuition costs.
Professional certifications, such as those offered past hundreds of universities and organizations on Coursera and edX, can help y'all gain new skills at a low cost without going through a traditional degree program. Udemy offers over 100,000 online courses taught by experts in their field, and LinkedIn offers many courses as well (with some free). Online schools, such every bit the Flower Institute of Technology and Merit America, teach programming with no upfront tuition until yous state a task.
Companies oftentimes offer their own certification programs. For example, Google offers programs in cloud architecture, DevOps engineering, and security engineering science. HubSpot offers certification courses in social media and marketing, entering marketing, and digital advertising.
— Finding an In-House Mentor
Sometimes y'all know you lot want to work at a specific company, but you don't have the right education or feel to get the task yous want.
Consider taking a dissimilar role at the company as a way to get your human foot in the door. Then, over time, as you learn most the company and network with coworkers, seek out a mentor who'due south in the department or role you want to motion into.
That person can assistance guide you on your career journeying, giving you advice and suggestions forth the way nigh what education options might be better for your situation or how to proceeds the right feel and skills to accelerate your career.
How FlexJobs Tin Assist
Whether you have a degree or not, FlexJobs' mission is to assistance you observe a ameliorate fashion to piece of work.
With flexible and remote task listings in over 50 categories and heavily discounted career coaching packages, we're hither to support our members throughout their careers. Accept the tour to larn more than almost the benefits of a FlexJobs membership!
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Source: https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/education-vs-experience/
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